FODZYME® to present at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW)

Kiwi Biosciences is delighted to announce that FODZYME®, the world’s first enzyme supplement to address FODMAPs directly, has been accepted for a poster presentation at the 2022 Digestive Disease Week Conference (DDW 2022). The presentation by Kiwi Biosciences will cover the in-vitro efficacy of targeted FODMAP enzymatic digestion (FODZYME®) in a high-fidelity simulated gastrointestinal environment.

Digestive Disease Week (DDW) is the world’s premier conference for the industry leaders in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and GI surgery, including physicians, and researchers. Taking place from May 21-24 in San Diego and virtually, DDW 2022 will combine hundreds of exclusive sessions and 3,000+ presentations on the latest industry developments.

FODZYME®’s presentation at the DDW 2022

FODMAPs are fermentable oligosaccharides, di-saccharides, mono-saccharides, and polyols. Hard to digest, it’s a group of carbohydrates that can trigger gut symptoms like abdominal pain, excessive gas, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea, especially in people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

FODZYME’s enzyme blend breaks down fructan, galacto-oligosaccharides, and lactose (certain FODMAP groups) into more digestible simple sugars. Created with all-natural ingredients, the powder blend contains lactase, alpha-galactosidase, and inulinase enzymes. 

During the presentation, the co-founders of Kiwi Biosciences Anjie Liu and David Hachuel, MPH, will share the data and insights from the in-vitro efficacy study conducted with the SHIME® model of GI tract conditions. They will be joined by Dr. Thomas Wallach, MD, a translational scientist, pediatric gastroenterologist, and Assistant Professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, as well as Dr. Tatiana Toro-Ramos, an expert in human nutrition and metabolism, microbial sciences and systemic health, and supplement and drug development.

The study demonstrates the efficacy of the FODZYME® blend in representative gastrointestinal conditions, indicating that dietary supplementation with enzyme would likely decrease intestinal FODMAP burden without the concerns of a restrictive diet.

Efficacy of FODZYME® in a high-fidelity simulated gastrointestinal environment

FODZYME® was administered concurrently with 3g of inulin (a common source of fructan) in SHIME®, a multi-compartment scientifically validated model of the complete human gut, to study the efficacy of FODZYME®’s inulinase in fructan degradation. 

Lactase and alpha-galactosidase, the two other enzymes in FODZYME®’s formulation, were assessed as an additional control arm to verify the specificity of inulinase in fructan hydrolysis.

Findings indicated a rapid breakdown of fructan in gastric conditions with ~90% of the inulin mass converted to fructose within 30 minutes thus demonstrating resilience to both gastric pH and protease activity. For more details, read the clinical brief with detailed data and research. 

FODZYME® is designed as a powder to integrate directly with the meal and has been assessed in this manner throughout the SHIME® experiments. 

FODZYME®’s powder formulation maximizes the homogenization of enzymes and food and thus the availability of enzymes to their substrates at the post-prandial gastric pH most favorable to microbial carbohydrates. 

About the founders

Kiwi Bio is led by Harvard-trained founders Anjie Liu and David Hachuel, MPH who understand firsthand how much the IBS community needs FODZYME®: Anjie as a patient herself who developed FODZYME® to be able to comfortably eat high-fructan foods and David who previously founded auggi.ai, a stool recognition AI technology and digital gut health coach for IBS patients. They are joined by Dr. Shalaka Samant, a Yale-trained expert in microbial biotechnology, who leads Kiwi Bio’s research and development efforts.

About Kiwi Biosciences

Co-founded by Anjie Liu and David Hachuel, MPH, Kiwi Biosciences is a human-centered biotech company developing elegant scientific solutions for extraordinary gut relief. 

FODZYME® was developed with a group of world-class experts in enzymology, biotechnology, medicine, and nutrition, FODZYME® was released to the world in Spring 2021. 

On a mission to make more foods painless, the team is working on a novel polyol-targeting enzyme to address the polyol group of the FODMAP family in development. The new solution will be transforming polyols like sorbitol and mannitol into sorbose and mannose that are more readily absorbed in the gut.